Adiponectin, also known as Acrp30, is an adipose tissue-derived hormone with anti-atherogenic, anti-diabetic and insulin sensitizing properties. Two seven-transmembrane domain-containing proteins, AdipoR1 and AdipoR2, have recently been identified as adiponectin receptors, yet signalling events downstream of these receptors remain poorly defined. By using the cytoplasmic domain of AdipoR1 as bait, we screened a yeast two-hybrid cDNA library derived from human fetal brain. This screening led to the identification of a phosphotyrosine binding domain and a pleckstrin homology domain-containing adaptor protein, APPL1 (adaptor protein containing pleckstrin homology domain, phosphotyrosine binding (PTB) domain and leucine zipper motif). APPL1 interacts with adiponectin receptors in mammalian cells and the interaction is stimulated by adiponectin. Overexpression of APPL1 increases, and suppression of APPL1 level reduces, adiponectin signalling and adiponectin-mediated downstream events (such as lipid oxidation, glucose uptake and the membrane translocation of glucose transport 4 (GLUT4)). Adiponectin stimulates the interaction between APPL1 and Rab5 (a small GTPase) interaction, leading to increased GLUT4 membrane translocation. APPL1 also acts as a critical regulator of the crosstalk between adiponectin signalling and insulin signalling pathways. These results demonstrate a key function for APPL1 in adiponectin signalling and provide a molecular mechanism for the insulin sensitizing function of adiponectin.

Grb10 is a pleckstrin homology and Src homology 2 domain-containing protein that interacts with a number of phosphorylated receptor tyrosine kinases, including the insulin receptor. In mice, Grb10 gene expression is imprinted with maternal expression in all tissues except the brain. While the interaction between Grb10 and the insulin receptor has been extensively investigated in cultured cells, whether this adaptor protein plays a positive or negative role in insulin signaling and action remains controversial. In order to investigate the in vivo role of Grb10 in insulin signaling and action in the periphery, we generated Grb10 knockout mice by the gene trap technique and analyzed mice with maternal inheritance of the knockout allele. Disruption of Grb10 gene expression in peripheral tissues had no significant effect on fasting glucose and insulin levels. On the other hand, peripheral-tissue-specific knockout of Grb10 led to significant overgrowth of the mice, consistent with a role for endogenous Grb10 as a growth suppressor. Loss of Grb10 expression in insulin target tissues, such as skeletal muscle and fat, resulted in enhanced insulin-stimulated Akt and mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphorylation. Hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp studies revealed that disruption of Grb10 gene expression in peripheral tissues led to increased insulin sensitivity. Taken together, our results provide strong evidence that Grb10 is a negative regulator of insulin signaling and action in vivo.

APPL1 is a newly identified adiponectin receptor-binding protein that positively mediates adiponectin signaling in cells.Here we report that APPL2, an isoform of APPL1 that forms a dimer with APPL1, can interacts with both AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 and acts as a negative regulator of adiponectin signaling in muscle cells. Overexpression of APPL2 inhibits the interaction between APPL1 and AdipoR1, leading to down-regulation of adiponectin signaling in C2C12 myotubes. In contrast, suppressing APPL2 expression by RNAi significantly enhances adiponectin-stimulated glucose uptake and fatty acid oxidation. In addition to targeting directly to and competing with APPL1 in binding with the adiponectin receptors, APPL2 also suppresses adiponectin and insulin signaling by sequestrating APPL1 from these two pathways. In addition to adiponectin, metformin also induces APPL1-APPL2 dissociation. Taken together, our results reveal that APPL isoforms function as an integrated YinYang regulator of adiponectin signaling and mediate the crosstalk between adiponectin and insulin signaling pathways in muscle cells.Adiponectin, an adipocyte-secreted hormone that regulates energy homeostasis and insulin sensitivity, has been shown to be a promising therapeutic drug target for the treatment of type 2 diabetes (1-3). Adiponectin binds to its membrane receptors (AdipoR1 and AdipoR2) 3 and regulates lipid and glucose metabolism by activating downstream signaling molecules, such as AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), p38 MAP kinase (MAPK), and PPAR␣, in the muscle and liver (1, 4). Activation of AMPK by adiponectin reduces S6 kinase-mediated IRS-1 serine phosphorylation and increases IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation thus sensitizes insulin signaling in C2C12 myotubes (5), suggesting a direct cross-talk between the adiponectin and insulin signaling pathways.We have recently identified APPL1 (adaptor protein-containing PH domain, PTB domain, and leucine zipper motif) as a signaling protein immediately downstream of adiponectin receptors and positively mediates adiponectin signaling in muscle cells (6). This adaptor protein was previously shown to interact with the catalytic subunit of PI 3-kinase (p110) and Akt, which are two key kinases in the PI 3-kinase pathway downstream of the insulin receptor (7). The interaction between APPL1 and Akt is required for insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation (8) and for controlling Akt substrate selectivity (9). It has been shown that APPL1-potentiated Akt activity to suppress androgen receptor transactivation in prostate cancer cells (10). APPL1 has also been suggested to function as an adaptor protein in regulating follicle-stimulated hormone (FSH)-mediated PI 3-kinase/ Akt signaling pathway (11, 12). Our results showed that APPL1 binds directly to the intracellular part of the adiponectin receptors and positively mediates adiponectin signaling to the AMPK and p38 MAPK pathways, leading to increased glucose uptake and fatty acid oxidation in muscle cells (6). In addition, we found that APPL1 plays a critical ro...

3-Phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1 (PDK-1) phosphorylates and activates members of the AGC protein kinase family and plays an important role in the regulation of cell survival, differentiation, and proliferation. However, how PDK-1 is regulated in cells remains elusive. In this study, we demonstrated that PDK-1 can shuttle between the cytoplasm and nucleus. Treatment of cells with leptomycin B, a nuclear export inhibitor, results in a nuclear accumulation of PDK-1. PDK-1 nuclear localization is increased by insulin, and this process is inhibited by pretreatment of cells with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) inhibitors. Consistent with the idea that PDK-1 nuclear translocation is regulated by the PI3-kinase signaling pathway, PDK-1 nuclear localization is increased in cells deficient of PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10). Deletion mapping and mutagenesis studies unveiled that presence of a functional nuclear export signal (NES) in mouse PDK-1 located at amino acid residues 382 to 391. Overexpression of constitutively nuclear PDK-1, which retained autophosphorylation at Ser-244 in the activation loop in cells and its kinase activity in vitro, led to increased phosphorylation of the predominantly nuclear PDK-1 substrate p70 S6K␤I. However, the ability of constitutively nuclear PDK-1 to induce anchorage-independent growth and to protect against UV-induced apoptosis is greatly diminished compared with the wildtype enzyme. Taken together, these findings suggest that nuclear translocation may be a mechanism to sequestrate PDK-1 from activation of the cytosolic signaling pathways and that this process may play an important role in regulating PDK-1-mediated cell signaling and function.T he 3Ј-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1 (PDK-1) is a 64-kDa protein comprised of a Ser͞Thr kinase domain near the N terminus and a C-terminal pleckstrin homology (PH) domain (1). This pivotal kinase plays a crucial role in mediating signal transduction downstream of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) in response to mitogen stimulation. Growth factor stimulation activates PI3-kinase, which converts phosphatidylinositol (4,5)-bisphosphate [PtdIns(4,5)P 2 ] to phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate [PtdIns(3,4,5)P 3 ]. This lipid product is bound by the PH domain of PDK-1, resulting in the recruitment of PDK-1 to the plasma membrane. Protein kinase B (PKB), the best characterized substrate of PDK-1, is recruited to the plasma membrane when its own PH domain binds to PtdIns(3,4,5)P 3 , leading to colocalization of these two proteins and phosphorylation of PKB by PDK-1 on Thr-308 (1), resulting in PKB activation. Downstream substrates of PKB include the antiapoptotic protein BAD and Forkhead (FH) transcription factors. In addition to PKB, PDK-1 has also been reported to phosphorylate many other kinases, including ribosomal p70 protein kinases, that are involved in the regulation of protein translation (2-5).At the cellular level, PDK-1 regulates key insulin effects such a...

PAS domain containing protein kinase (Pask) is an evolutionarily conserved protein kinase implicated in energy homeostasis and metabolic regulation across eukaryotic species. We now describe an unexpected role of Pask in promoting the differentiation of myogenic progenitor cells, embryonic stem cells and adipogenic progenitor cells. This function of Pask is dependent upon its ability to phosphorylate Wdr5, a member of several protein complexes including those that catalyze histone H3 Lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) during transcriptional activation. Our findings suggest that, during myoblast differentiation, Pask stimulates the conversion of repressive H3K4me1 to activating H3K4me3 marks on the promoter of the differentiation gene myogenin (Myog) via Wdr5 phosphorylation. This enhances accessibility of the MyoD transcription factor and enables transcriptional activation of the Myog promoter to initiate muscle differentiation. Thus, as an upstream kinase of Wdr5, Pask integrates signaling cues with the transcriptional network to regulate the differentiation of progenitor cells.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.17985.001